“I think it might just be taking some wording out of context,” said Amber Bierfreund of the agency’s Jacksonville office. Nobody was hurt.

Lenny Santiago, a Daytona International Speedway spokesman, said the speedway wasn’t instructing people to seek shelter in their vehicles, but just providing information from the Red Cross. He said many fans watching Sunday’s race camped at the 500-acre property, which is mostly open land, and were at their campsites during the warning. For them, he said, a vehicle might have been the only shelter.

Thursday, he said the message was probably out of context.

He said the message was extracted from Red Cross guidelines and the wording constructed to be posted on screens focused on the infield.

“We only had a certain amount of characters,” he said.

Because many of the thousands of race fans at the track are near their vehicles, they might choose to find shelter there.

The intent, Santiago said, was to provide what the Red Cross recommended in those circumstances if that’s what the fan decides to do.

“We don’t advise people to seek shelter in a car,” he said.

The Red Cross tornado safety checklist says if a tornado is threatening, the safest place is an underground shelter, basement or safe room. Next would be a small, windowless interior room or hallway in a sturdy building. Shelter should never be sought in a mobile home.

A vehicle should be used primarily to drive from a mobile home or outdoor location to a shelter. If debris starts flying while driving, the Red Cross recommends pulling over and parking. Inside a stopped car, people should lower their heads below the window line and cover with a blanket. If there is an area noticeably lower than the roadway, get out and lie there, covering their heads with their hands.

“Normally our advice would be to get out of your car and seek a safe shelter,” Bierfreund said.

She said part of the Red Cross mission is to help people caught in events such as tornadoes. As well as advising about actions to take during a strike, the Red Cross has checklists for preparing ahead of time and what to do following one.

Using a vehicle for safety is only a last resort, Bierfreund said.

National Weather Service-Jacksonville meteorologist Ben Nelson said people are safer outside their vehicles.

In advice similar to the Red Cross, Nelson said people should leave their cars, crouch low to the ground and cover their heads. They should take those measures even if there isn’t a nearby ditch or low ground.

“We don’t officially recommend getting in a car,” he said. “They can be tossed around and don’t necessarily provide protection from flying debris. If windows shatter, you can be impacted by glass.”

During major outdoor events in Jacksonville, like last weekend’s Monster Jam or Jaguar games, the city’s Emergency Preparedness Department and the National Weather Service monitors the weather and notifies event hosts when it could turn dangerous. Steve Woodard, director of Emergency Preparedness, said if a tornado were to come close to EverBank Field, the response plan would follow the National Weather Service’s advice: Seek a shelter, ideally a closed space without windows.

Keith Van Der Leest, assistant manager for SMG Jacksonville, which manages EverBank Field, said officials would evacuate fans from the open part of the stadium in the event of a tornado. He said fans would then be directed into closed areas in the stadium, like kitchens, offices and bathrooms.

Van Der Leest said he didn’t know if those areas were designed to protect fans during a tornado.

Earlier, The Weather Channel criticized Daytona International Speedway for waiting too long to advise fans to seek shelter from lightning.

A story published Tuesday claimed officials with the Daytona International Speedway advised fans to seek shelter about an hour after receiving notice from the National Weather Service that lightning had struck within 10 miles of the track.

Santiago disputed The Weather Channel’s accusation that the track acted negligently. Santiago said speedway officials stay in communication with the local National Weather Service office and monitor severe weather. The track’s response plan is to advise fans to seek shelter when severe winds or lightning is 30 minutes away from approaching a 10 mile radius of the track, Santiago said.

Thursday he said a notification went out within two minutes of the warning being issued.

Scott Spratt, a warning coordination meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Melbourne, which was providing updates to track officials, said the office observed 30 lightning strikes within five miles of the speedway between 2 and 4 p.m. He said he didn’t know the exact times of each lightning strike.

Fans were warned to seek shelter through the announcements, video screens and social media after the Weather Service issued its severe weather warning about 2:45 p.m, Santiago said.

The track was certified last year as “StormReady” by the Weather Service, meaning it has implemented a system to warn fans of dangerous weather and established plans to protect them, Santiago said, but track officials will evaluate their response this week and decide whether any changes need to be made.

“We don’t claim to mean that our system is perfect,” Santiago said. “We’ll look at our plan and see how it has performed.”